My employer provides me with free BCBS health insurance; I pay no premium.
My wife is self-employed. Through my employer, I also pay the full premium to get my wife on the same plan I'm on. My employer deducts the premium from my post-tax income. They do not offer a cafeteria/Sec. 125 plan.
I'm trying to figure out whether the premium I pay for my wife is deductible, and how.
My understanding is that because she's self-employed, she could ordinarily deduct premiums for her insurance even without otherwise itemizing deductions (and reaching the 7.5 (or 10?)% of adjusted gross income). However, since it's deducted from my income, I'm confused.
One person insists that
- If she's on my plan, the premium should be deducted from my pre-tax income. [Again, my employer does not offer a cafeteria plan.]
- If she's on her own plan, she can deduct the premium from her pre-tax income.
I've done as much reading as I can, and looked through other queries on this site. However, the combination of her being self-employed and getting insurance through post-tax deductions from my pay have so far defeated my research skills.
I'd appreciate advice, suggestions on where to look, or both.
